In the digital era, to have your business advertised is more important than ever for business growth. As word of month is getting challenged by online communities, having a strong marketing strategy can boost your customer base and increase your company revenue. In this post, I’ve pointed out the absolutely mandatory things a 21st-century moving company must do to keep up with the competition. While compiling this list, I had the moving industry in mind, but most of these marketing ideas can be executed for pretty much any type of business with the same mind-blowing success.
Invest in a great website
That is the first and most important step in the entire list. Nowadays, most of the people are searching online for a reputable moving company. The Yellow Pages era is over – we are in the digital era now. Your number one sales place is your website and your salesman is the contact info or your website’s quote forms. Some of the important features of a good website are:
Clear design with easy-to-use navigation.
Things like “About us” or “Contact us” pages are a requirement. Also, show your priority services in the main navigation. Do not overwhelm your homepage or your main navigation. Try to keep your main menu with 7 items or less. There is a marketing rule that if a customer cannot see something during the first seven seconds on your page – it does not exist for them. So, make sure the most important information deals /advantages/are the ones that make the best impression.
A mobile version of the site.
At RemovalReviews, we have nearly 45% of our visitors using smartphones to access our website. The majority of them are iPhone and Android phone users. I bet that you own a mobile phone and you use it to browse websites. Make your website look good on smartphones. Show only the most important stuff on your mobile pages and add relevant “call to action” features. Most importantly, make sure you make your phone as a click-to-call link from your mobile pages.
Quote/Estimate forms.
Some of the visitors will make the effort to call, this is why having an estimate form on the site will serve as an alternative to your contact information. Check this customizable free estimate form you can use on your website to generate leads.
Full contact information.
Nobody wants to deal with fathom companies. That is why having a complete contact info will increase the chance of booking a customer. The most important features are: a phone number and a toll-free phone number, a complete address (add multiple addresses for every location), an email address and a mailing address, if applicable.
DOT and legal information.
It is required by law that US moving companies have to have their D.O.T. number (Department of Transportation number) visible on their website. Make sure you also list your MC number as well as your local state license number (if any). It is a good idea to link to the Protect your Move “Your Rights and Responsibilities” booklet as it is required by law to provide it to all your customers before booking.
Privacy policy and terms of use pages.
This is often forgotten, but it is essential if you’d like visitors to trust you with their sensitive contact information. Update your Privacy Policy page because in this age of spam and scam, people need to know what will happen with their phone numbers and email addresses once they fill out your moving quote form.
Start a blog
Let the best movers from your team share the most common issues, mistakes, and questions they deal with on a daily basis. Let your sales team write occasional posts about their experiences with customers as well as the most common questions that customers ask them. I’ve summarized some of the themes and ideas you could start with:
Moving and packing tips
These could be written by a mover or a foreman who is dealing with this on a daily basis.
Frequently asked questions
What are the most common questions your customers ask you?
Data/Statistics from your moving company or from the Internet
This info could be the moves the company has performed, the most common states people move to, etc. It could also be presented as an infographic. See our infographic about the US migration in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. You could also use the US census information or the U.S. Department of Transportation website to gather more info.
Fun stuff
Things like the weirdest things that the company has moved, photo collections with fun stuff during a move, etc.
Moving leads
Many moving companies rely heavily on moving leads to book customers. There are several large lead providers in the USA, Canada, others in the UK, and some that specialize in International leads. Make sure to check our moving leads for moving companies. Our partners at MoveAdvisor are one of the leading lead providers where you can buy moving leads from that offer leads shared between 4 movers or less. Also, don’t forget to check these moving lead conversion tips to achieve a better booking rate.
When choosing a lead provider, you should really look for these:
To provide only real-time leads:
you need to receive all sales leads immediately after the user has entered their information online. If your leads are being delayed for any reason, this customer may have already booked with another moving company.
Split competitors:
How many moving companies are competing for the leads? Some lead providers will split the lead to a maximum of 4 moving companies, but others may sell it to up to 6 or 9 more movers. Make sure your leads are sent to as few moving companies as possible to increase your chances of booking.
Returning of bad leads:
Does your lead provider accept lead credits? It is important to know if you can return leads with disconnected phone numbers or bouncing email addresses. Also, look for phone verified leads.
Import moving leads to moving software:
Most movers are using moving software to keep their business organized. Make sure your lead provider supports real-time import of sales leads to your moving software to ensure your leads are fresh.
Filters:
filtering the area you want to receive leads from is essential for a successful campaign. Make sure your provider can filter based on area radius or a whole state. You can additionally filter out the weekend if you don’t have salesmen working during Saturday and Sunday on your leads. Other useful filters will be moves of a minimum distance of 100 miles between locations to make sure you are only getting long distance leads for your sales team.
Research your customers
You might be servicing celebrities or niche influencers without even knowing that. Make sure you know who your customers are. If you happen to move someone important, make sure you do a good job and ask for a testimonial to display online. Don’t forget to take pictures as well. Follow up with your current customers. Some of them may maintain blogs or write for big news agencies. Use that to your advantage and try to get the best of it. Your happy customers are your power!
Reputation management
Your reputation is important. People will research you before booking, especially for the bigger moving jobs that require extra attention. Make sure they find great things about you online. Of course, nobody is perfect and you are not supposed to be, but having relatively good reviews, a great testimonials page on your site and a good amount of people willing to be used as a reference for your future customers is a must. Take a look at this reputation management guide for more info and How To’s.
Be credible
Take advantage of AMSA, BBB and any other trust seal that will make your potential customer trust you with his or her business. In every business niche, there are authorities and influencers. Here are the most important ones in the moving industry:
AMSA
Become an AMSA member because customers are familiar with this association as it is the largest in the moving industry in the USA. After the first year of membership, your company will be promoted to Pro Mover – another important badge to display on your website.
Better Business Bureau
There is hardly any adult who hasn’t heard about them. As one of the most trusted organizations, BBB helps millions of businesses get more customers and convert their website visitors. Becoming an accredited business will boost sales effectiveness.
Move for Hunger
This is a relatively new charity organization for moving companies, but it is worth checking out.
At RemovalReviews, we’ve released a seal for all registered companies to display on their websites. Having trust seals visible on the website raises the overall conversion rate.
Be social
.. because your customers are. Spend some time to create a Facebook page, Google local page and a Twitter account (here is where to start with Twitter). Maintaining a posting schedule is important too. Creating these profiles is only step one. In this process, companies should pay attention to designing their profile to sell – upload a logo, a compelling background/cover image and compose a great “about the company” text that states the advantages of using this particular company. Then, sharing and participation will begin. Be sure to share relevant topics, links, tips and information and start growing a followers base. For the moving industry, you can check out the #movechat event on Twitter and see what other movers are sharing.
Claim your profiles
Gain additional exposure by creating a profile of your company in the largest local business directories and review sites. For example, at RemovalReviews, we offer free profiles for moving companies with some great benefits, but not all movers take advantage of all of them. Some of the most underutilized goodies in the profiles are:
ake advantage of all fields.
Filling the company description/about text – most of the local directories and review sites offer members to add some information about their businesses. This is very important because this is what the end customer see directly on the third party site and this is the place to make the sale.
Updated contact information.
It is very important for any local business to maintain an up-to-date profile with all the popular local directories and moving reviews sites. That way, customers will be able to contact you directly and you gain access to many potential customers easily.
Upload a logo.
This one will make your company profile even more desirable to click. Keep in mind that it is vital to stand out from the crowd and get customers’ attention in such sites where you are competing with other businesses.
Advertise on the Internet
There are many places online that will get you phone calls or bring some customers to your website. You can start with exploring Google Adwords or Bing Ads. Explore local business sites like Yelp or look for the largest moving industry websites that support advertising and start a trial to test the effectiveness. At RemovalReviews, we offer several types of advertising options to help movers book more jobs. Another idea is to explore the largest moving and travel related sites and contact them for advertisement or guest blogging. Just make sure you appear on the sites and blogs where your customers are hanging out. You may also consider adverting on Facebook as they have some powerful tools and filters that you can take advantage of like the “people likely to move” targeting option. If you have a smaller moving company you can also post ads in the local classifieds site or on Craigslist, just make sure you design it well.
Connect with real estate agents
Find the most influential real estate agents in your area. Join local business groups and present your services. Having a good network of RE agents on your side will guarantee you a steady constant flow of business as long as you provide a quality service. Realtors are essential as a constant business stream in the long run.
Bonus tip: Encourage referral business
Provide a clear bonus structure for all referral business. Your happy customers may refer their friends and family to you, make sure they have the right incentives for that to happen.
Most of these tips & ideas are pretty much the same for any type of business. Having all these factors in place will guarantee a constant flow of new customers. Have I missed something essential? Share your marketing ideas with me and let me know in the comments below.